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Concept
Lake Bosumtwi
Summary
Lake Bosumtwi is the only natural lake in Ghana. It is situated within an ancient impact crater that is about in diameter. It is about south-east of Kumasi, the capital of Ashanti, and is a popular recreational area. There are about 30 villages near the crater lake of Lake Bosumtwi, with a combined population of about 70,000. The most popular amongst the villages where tourists usually settle is Abono.
The Ashanti consider Bosumtwi a sacred lake. According to traditional belief, the souls of the dead come here to bid farewell to the goddess Asase Ya. Because of this, it is considered permissible to fish in the lake only from wooden planks. Among the fish species in the lake is the endemic cichlid Hemichromis frempongi, and the near-endemic cichlids Tilapia busumana and T. discolor.
The Lake Bosumtwi impact crater is in diameter, slightly larger than the present lake which is approximately across, and is estimated to be 1.07 million years old (Pleistocene period).
The depth of crater is approximately , but, if counted together with the depth of lake sediments - .
The crater has been partly eroded, and is situated in dense rainforest, making it difficult to study and confirm its origin by meteorite impact. Shock features such as shatter cones are largely overgrown by vegetation or covered by the lake. However, drilling of the crater's central uplift beneath the lake floor has recently provided an abundance of shocked materials for scientific study. Tektites, believed to be from this impact, are found in the neighbouring country of Ivory Coast, and related microtektites have been found in deep sea sediments west of the African continent.
A work based on a statistical study of past numerical orbital simulations of the impact event asserts that the possible origin of the impactor is an asteroid coming from the middle main-belt at a high inclination (>17 degrees).
Before the asteroid impact, the area was a lush rainforest filled with animals. Following the impact, the resulting crater filled with water forming Lake Bosumtwi.
Official source
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